Back from Israel
Av Magnus Lindberg • 2006-12-23 • Kategoriserat under: Articles in English, IsraelAfter three intense weeks in Israel I’m finally back in Sweden. Four highlights from the trip deserve special mentioning. In no particular order:
- Dinner with G. Tikotzinsky and Anna. To meet my fellow authors in real life was a nice experience. Doing so over grilled sea bass and a Goldstar made the whole thing even nicer. One thing that came out of the dinner was the decision to start writing in English as well as Swedish, at least on trial. We’re being linked to by a fair amount of English blogs and it doesn’t seem quite fair that visitors following these links have nothing to read once they reach our blog.
- Reception at Swedish ambassador Robert Rydberg’s home in Herzliya. A meet and greet thing where I had the chance to talk to among others, former Israeli ambassador to Sweden, Mr. Zvi Mazel, and our Swedish military attaché Stephan Persson Tyrling. All in all a very interesting experience.
- Meeting with Dr. Muhammad Hourani, a Palestinian intellectual and peace activist. He is also the first translator of Yanush Kortzeck’s writings into Arabic. Dr. Hourani turned out to be a very friendly and outspoken man that would probably have one or two things to say to Susan Nathan if they ever met.
- Meeting with Knesset member and former government member R. Michael Melchior. R. Melchior is also the chief rabbi of Norway as well as former chief rabbi of Denmark. He is also the founder of the Birthright Israel program. Meimad is part of Avoda and has one seat in the current Knesset.
Apart from the above I did a fair amount of desert hiking and spent a good deal of time in various Hummus-bars in downtown Jerusalem. The trip made me think a lot of the symbiotic relationship between European Jewry and Israel. They both need each other but Israel doesn’t seem to recognize this fact. Work needs to be done in this area, and the fact that R. Malchior, mentioned above, recognizes this is refreshing. Among certain groups one can see a prevalent post-Zionist discourse with which I for the first time got acquainted during this trip. As much as it scares me I suppose it is the inevitable paradox of a Jewish state. The problem is tremendously complex and I need to think about it more before writing anything on it. I haven’t gotten my head around it yet.
No related posts.
Magnus Lindberg är Emmanuel Levinas Fellow vid Paideia - The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden. Han är vice ordförande i svenska Zionistiska federationen och har tidigare varit ordförande för organisationen Israelgruppen.
Alla texter av Magnus Lindberg
Hej,
Jag bor i USA och jag förstår litte svenska. So, I was happy to read that more English will appear on this weblog.
I think there are two issues touched on by Mr. Lindberg that deserve more elaboration and discussion: 1) Israel vs. Europe; 2) The Post-Zionist future.
It is easy for me to be mistaken, given the very superfcial coverage of Israeli issues in the U.S. media, but my impression is that Israel thinks that because of its special relationship with the U.S.A., it has the “big gun” in its closet, and therefore need not so assiduously cultivate better relationships with the European countries (perhaps Denmark, with its own historical special relationship to Irsael, is the exception.)
Post-Zionism is a sensitive issue. Perhaps this is an issue that needs to be taken seriously by all, despite the unpleasantness of the subject. There are many facets to this issue, such as the relative comfort of Jews in the West, the desirability of encouraging the diaspora culture, and the increasing intermarriage of Jews and non-Jews in America and the West. What is the future of Israel in a world in which anti-semitic forces are increasing in number and destructive power. I would argue that we are entering a post-religion era. I would elaborate more on this, but we all need our sleep!
Thank’s for a nice blogpost. Perhaps you could alternate font colors when you write in English and Swedish, so that it’s easier for the reader to distinguish (e.g. see JohanNorberg.net).
A small correction, however: Rabbi Melchior is spelled Melchior, not Malchior. The Melchior family in Denmark have been Rabbis for generations – and I have had the privilege of meeting several of them.
“turned out to be a very friendly and outspoken man that would probably have one or two things to say to Susan Nathan if they ever met.”
Like what?
Jon M,
Like “I’m Israeli and I like beeing Israel”.
i think it sucks with all in english…
i dont know how a horse gneggs in english
hstn:
You may neigh or whinny.
Hästen, i så fall får du nöja dig med mig (och du behöver inte hålla dig till ämnet om du inte vill, det går bra att kommentera litet allt möjligt). Jag har inga som helst planer på att skriva på engelska. Hela vitsen med skrivandet är för mig att få möjlighet att uttrycka mig på mitt modersmål, eftersom jag väldigt sällan pratar svenska. Så voila.